Hey, you know what time it is?

That's when you say,
"It's Blugold time."

Because we are at the University
of Wisconsin Eau Claire,

and it is Blugold mania.

I'm Ferrari St. Paul, and we're
gonna see what it's all about.

The University of Wisconsin
Eau Claire is located

in the Midwest community
of Eau Claire,

on the banks of two rivers.

A little over an hour drive will
get you to the Twin Cities

of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

Well, it's a great
sized community.

It's about 60,000
people in Eau Claire,

about 100,000 in the metro area.

So it's a nice sized town.

Plenty of coffee houses,
live music,

lots of companies
for internships.

It's a beautiful location in
terms of students who really

might like to do hiking
or biking, rollerblading.

And we're an hour
and a half

from Twin Cities,
Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

You can go tubing
down the river.

There's the Acoustic Café,
which has live music.

I mean, I love going
to the farmers' market

on Saturdays.

UW Eau Claire has over
300 acres of campus,

the majority of which is wooded.

Luckily today it's a hot
summer day.

But if you're planning on
crossing the Chippewa River

in the winter,
you better bundle up.

This bridge made late night
host David Letterman's list

of the top ten coldest
places in America.

Behind the dorms there
we have a very nice area

called Putnam Park where
students can, and faculty,

can jog, ride bikes.

It's also a research area for
some of the departments

in the university.

If you like the outdoors and you
like those kinds of activities,

then, you know, there's
canoeing, there's kayaking,

there's hiking, there's
cross-country skiing

in the winter, there's
a little downhill skiing

not too far away.

Wisconsin Eau Claire has
about 10,000 undergrads,

with a total enrollment
of about 10,500.

The student body is made up
of 41% men, 59% women,

112 international students,
and 507 multi-cultural students.

Well, you know, we get
really good students.

We get really academically
talented, passionate students.

Our average student is in
the top quarter of their class

with almost a 25 on their ACT.

They've been super involved.

A lot of them have been
abroad already.

So we really get very top notch
students here at Eau Claire.

Residents of Wisconsin
and Minnesota will pay

around $6,000 in yearly tuition.

All other students will pay
closer to $14,000.

And for those that qualify for
the Midwest Student Exchange

program, it'll cost
roughly $8,000.

Plus an additional fee
for room and board

will come to about $5,000.

Why buy your books when
you can borrow them?

Eau Claire students save
hundreds of dollars

each semester through
the textbook rental program.

Just returning these,
thank you.

The University of Wisconsin
Eau Claire offers

over 80 undergraduate
majors and minors.

Well, our largest majors
are things like Biology,

Elementary Education, Nursing,
Business, Psychology.

Those are kind of
the top five in terms

of biggest majors on campus.

But we also have a lot
of interdisciplinary programs,

things like Latin American
Studies,

American-Indian Studies.

So we have a lot of programs
that are really unique

for us on campus,
programs and things like

Environmental and Public Health,
which has been

real popular lately.

So students can do everything
from traditional liberal arts

here to also applied areas,
like education,

business, and health care.

UWEC's jazz program
is Grammy nominated,

has produced multiple CDs,
and has traveled

all over the world.

Eighty-two percent of faculty
members at UW Eau Claire

have their terminal degree,
78% are full-time faculty.

The average class size is 29
and the student to faculty

ratio is 19:1.

The University of Wisconsin
Eau Claire Blugolds play

at the NCAA Division III level,
and are the 2008

women's softball champions.

When it comes to snooze,
Eau Claire students can choose

from 11 residence halls,
one all male, one all female,

and one apartment complex
for upper classmen.

There are two residence halls
on lower campus,

but most, like, nine out of the
eleven are on upper campus.

And so it's like a social area.

When you walk up the hill
or walk up the stairs to get

to upper campus,
it's beautiful.

And you can go,
you can play Frisbee-golf,

you can go rock climbing,
ropes course, swimming, bowling,

et cetera, all within
a five minute walk,

anywhere you want to go.

So a lot of stuff to do.

If intramural sports or the
220-plus student organizations

don't strike a chord with you,
maybe the Blugold

marching band will.

They're the largest D-III
college band,

as well as the most
active in the Midwest,

growing from only 68 members
to a staggering 203

over just seven years.

There are many other
musical opportunities, too,

an a capella group,
jazz ensemble,

and traveling players that
perform internationally.

On the weekends, you don't
even have to leave campus

to have a good time.

UW Eau Claire has its
very own dance club

and bowling and billiards
center.

Right here.

Nice.

One out of four
students participates

in the UW Eau Claire's
study abroad program

and the university is nationally
ranked for the number

of students sent for
a semester or longer.

So if you're looking for
a university with a full range

of academic and extracurricular
opportunities

in a beautiful river
setting, then make

the University of Wisconsin Eau
Claire your neck of the woods.

We're wrapping up our day
at one of the school's

most romantic spots,
the Kissing Rock.

It's where many students'
relationships begin

and where our tour of
UW Eau Claire ends.

So, I'm Ferrari St. Paul...

See you later.